As a pharmacist, I communicate and interact with healthcare professionals and doctors everyday. It’s a part of my job that I enjoy because I find that there is nothing more powerful than a collaborative approach to health! But I recently had an interaction with a doctor that left me so surprised, I feel like I have to share it…
I was the one who reached out to the doctor after getting a prescription for a pain medication where the dose prescribed seemed wrong.
Simply put, the medication prescribed is a 12-hour extended release tablet, which means that you have to take it twice a day (every 12 hours!). But the doctor’s prescription said to take it every 6 hours!
My immediate thought was that this was probably a simple typo! Happens, right? No big deal…
So I called the doctor. To my surprise, instead of thanking me for catching this, I was basically told to mind my own business and follow what’s written! Even though there is NO benefit for the patient to be taking the medication every 6 hours. Not only is there no benefit, in this case it was also dangerous, because the dose would be too high!
Regardless of my logical arguments, the doctor insisted that’s exactly what he intended to prescribe and made it very clear that I should not be questioning his prescriptions anymore! 🤦🏻♀️
Not to worry, I warned the patient about the whole situation and explained exactly how to take the medication at a safe dose. I might have also suggested finding another (less arrogant and more caring) doctor!! 😉
Before you get the wrong idea, I want to emphasize that the majority of times that I speak with a doctor, our interaction is very positive and leads to a mutually beneficial exchange of information.
The point of this story is this: there is nothing more powerful than having a collaborative attitude with other healthcare professionals. When you have an entire medical team that focuses entirely on the health and wellbeing of every person, that’s when magic happens.
When the family doctor’s expertise is combined with the expertise of a nutritionist, a pharmacist, a nurse, a health coach, a diabetes educator, a personal trainer and any other professional… that’s when you create the most powerful approach to health!
Which is why myself and the healthcare team at Kasana Health are proud to have collaborated to create and offer free educational courses for anyone living with prediabetes or T2D:
👉 Outsmarting Type 2 diabetes
Sign-up today and browse through the course on your own time. You’ll find plenty of useful information, tips, recipes and tools that will empower you to live a healthier life, and possibly take fewer pills!
